The Queen Of Winter Book One

Carry On My Wayward Son

"Concentrate Köttr!" Loki's voice rang out through the training room of the Avengers compound. Frustration evident in his tone and stiff posture.

"I am concentrating!" Anna retorted.

"No you are distracted." Loki stated, crossing his arms over his chest and tapping his foot on the polished floor.

The training room, despite being vast and having various different stations for different elements of training, seemed incredibly cramped today. Much to Loki's annoyance for some reason all of the team had decided they all needed to train at the exact same time he was scheduled to train with Anna. He loved this precious time he got to spend with her. Alone. He felt a special connection to her when they practiced magic together. Anna did so much for everyone around the compound and shared so much of her self with others. Loki cherished having something they shared that no one else could be involved with. Loki wanted to help Anna develop her magic. He believed she could become as strong as him. Recently she had been having some slight issues with her powers. It had been inconsistent ever since they arrived home from their mission in Scotland. Some times she was able to control and use her magic like it was a part of her and other times she could barley conjure enough energy to light a candle. Loki was convinced there was something blocking her abilities, that she was putting up a mental barrier that needed to be broken down. Today they were practicing teleportation.

"Well maybe that's because it's like a circus in here!" Anna groaned. She walked over to Loki and slumped into his open arms. He gently stroked her back and hair as he held her tightly.

"I know my love, I know" Loki soothed. He could feel the frustration in her body. He hated seeing her like this. Loki felt so helpless. As much as he tried to comfort her there was very little he could do to get her out of her funk. Over the past week or so, Anna thought Loki hadn't noticed her barely eating or sleeping. He pretended to be asleep while she got out of bed and roamed the compound or watched mindless reality TV about a group of ghost hunters.

Around them in the training room Clint was practicing his accuracy with a new, lightweight carbon fibre bow Tony had been developing. Nat was sparing with Thor, as were Steve and Bucky. Bruce was quietly sitting in the corner of the room with his laptop typing away on some new project.Tony was making adjustments to a new suit with nanotechnology. In his usual fashion he was ignorant to his fellow teammates and was blasting out Kansas on the high tech sound system he had installed in the training room. Tony concentrated better when listening to the classics apparently.

"Carry on my wayward son there'll be peace when you are done. Lay your weary head to rest. Don't you cry no more!" Tony belted out as he played his air guitar.

Loki pulled away slightly from Anna so he could look at her. "Clear your mind. Block everything out around you. Lets try again." Loki kissed Anna on the top of her head before taking up his position a few metes away from her. "Imagine the place in which you wish to be. Envision it clearly in your mind." Loki instructed.

Anna took a deep, calming breath. She closed her eyes. In her mind she tried to envision the training room. She clearly tried to see, in her minds eye, the back wall of the training room. It wasn't far. Only 10 feet away. Surely she could do this. Anna tried with everything she had to teleport herself there.

She squeezed her eyes closed even tighter, afraid to open them. "Am I there? Did I do it?"..........